We call my son “monkey boy” as he climbs on and jumps over everything, and he has a love of monkeys. The sock monkey will be going to him shortly, if I can part with it. I’ll be making one for his cousin and his sister, too. They are in Florida visiting the grandparents right now. I think maybe they’ll like a monkey package from home :^)

I have hundreds of unmatched socks in a bag that I’ve finally admitted will probably never be matched. The goal was to use these socks to make them, but as I was rummaging around the Salvation Army the other day, I found 2 pair of the red-heeled socks they are normally made with for only 49 cents each(still in the plastic with tags and everything-yay me!) I couldn’t pass it up, and was finally motivated enough to make my first sock monkey.

Of course, it helps that the Spring quarter is over for school 8 classes (24 credit hours) was a bit much, but it looks like I still made the Dean’s list. Another yay for me! So this week is the break before summer quarter starts, the kids are gone, and aside from some housework I really don’t have a lot planned except for a few sewing and crocheting projects. Oh, and one knitting project, but as it is a gift I’m working on for someone in September, I won’t be blogging about that yet. But after his birthday, you better believe I will tell you all about it. It’s going to be nice, and it requires a lot of creativity and my learning a new skill in knitting.

Anyway, back to the sock monkey. I’ve never made one before, and my sewing is really not very good, so I practiced on an old pair of socks in the basket first. They actually do match each other, but as they don’t have very much elasticity, I don’t really wear them at all. I’m so glad I practiced on the old socks first, as it didn’t go very well at all.

But I did figure out what not to do next time!

Definite learning experience. I feel bad for the little stripey guy, being all ugly and not put together well. I think I’m going to remove his tail, create a face, and put some yarn hair and clothes on him. I can’t bear to throw him away, but he’s really not something I wanna show off that much…lol.

Still, confident at what I did right with him, and understanding what I did wrong, I set out to make a sock monkey out of the good socks.

Here are some of the progress photos:

Sock turned inside out, legs made at toes.

Socks right side out, ready to be stuffed.

This is after I stitched the head closed, rolling the cuff down for a “hat”, basted around the neck and pulled a little to shape, then stitched the other sock’s heel on the face and stuffed:

What you lookin’ at?!

He’s got no arms!

The arms and tail are taken from the other sock, and stitched in to place:

I used white embroidery floss for all stitching.

I am the one-armed man! hahaha!

Oh, yeah, got 2 arms now! Somebody stop me!

And here is the final creation:

And the tail makes the monkey!

I was going to go pick up buttons for his eyes, but I kinda like him this way. Maybe I’ll add some later, I don’t know. I didn’t cut up the rear enough, so he looks like he’s wearing the pants with the big crotch that all the thugs wear nowadays. I guess the ski-hat covering the eyes goes along with that whole thug-monkey theme…lol.

I think he’s so cute. I’m going to make the other one later today. I may try to slow down and create my own instructions detailing what to do when…of course, that would require being a little more organized. But if it helps spread the sock monkey love, it would be worth it.

If anyone tries to make sock monkeys after reading this, or have made them in the past, please feel free to send/post pics of your little monkeys as well-I would love to see them!

Here’s the pattern again:

These are the materials for the pants (look closely-two different shades of the same fabric):

Soft, creamy, and only $1.00 a yard!

For the two tank-camisole shirts(both are silky and soft-the dark one isn’t black, but a nice, rich chocolatey brown):

Again, only $1 a yard. Yay for deals!

This super-sassy super-cute silky fabric is going to be a dress, wtih enough leftover for both a short headband, and a long, 60′s-style headband:

I love the pinks, grays, and black-only $2 a yard.

This is going to be a jacket to wear with the tanks and pants(adding a little color and pattern to the basic fabrics to liven it up a little) and possibly some type of purse or bag, and a belt depending on what’s left over:

Another $2 a yard fabric(I like the dotty circles).

And finally, something I hope to have finished by mid-summer, a dress with matching jacket:

Feels like linen and very summery-$3.00/yard.

I’m going to make one of the shirts first, since it seems like the easiest one to get me back in to the swing of sewing and all. Then it’s on to the pink plaid dress with matching jacket. I think it will be a nice little summer outfit. In the end, it may be a little too much pink plaid and I may end up wearing one or the other and not both at the same time, but that’s fine too. I think the jacket will go well paired with one of the tops and one of the pair of pants, and the dress will look great with a simple white cardigan.

Of course, I have several projects due for school, as we are in the last week of the quarter, so this won’t start till the third week of June. But I have my materials and my notions…I just have to get the machine ready and wait till I have time to start. I’m so excited!

I’ll take lots of progress shots for each piece, and keep them updated on here. Not that I think my sewing is oh-so-riveting, but I like to be able to look back in my blogs and see a record of how far I’ve come. Also, if any experienced sewers (or just people who might be able to help in general), they can leave comments. Feedback is always appreciated! And maybe I’ll inspire some other person to dust off their sewing machine, too.

My daughter loved the granny square blanket I made, and promptly wrapped herself in it when I showed it to her, claiming it for her own. Of course, I had made it with the intention of keeping it for me, either on the couch for when I needed something to curl up with, or at the end of my bed(it would go well with my room, adding much needed color). I tried to explain this to her, but she wasn’t having it. We made a compromise: she would be allowed to keep my granny square blanket until I made her a blanket of her own. Sigh.

This gives me the chance to make a blanket using this wonderful pattern by Erin Lindsey. It’s a granny square blanket, but instead of lots of little squares to sew together it’s one large square. You just keep adding row after row until you think it’s large enough, changing colors as you wish. This is also another stashbuster project, helping me to use up some of the two garbage bags worth of odd yarn I was given a couple months ago.  (***Note:Erin has generously shared her pattern for free so that we might all make this fun, easy, pretty blanket. Please, if you use the pattern and mention it on your blog or wherever, give her credit as this is her original pattern.)

The pattern crochets up quickly, and is very pretty. I see myself using this again and again. It’s a lot of fun, and again simple and mindless, so I can do it while I’m watching t.v., or thinking about a  million other things. I’m hoping to have it finished in the next two weeks. Maybe she can take it on her trip to Florida this summer when she visits her grandparents.

Anyway, here’s a picture of the progress I made last night:

Here are the pictures:

So YAY ME! I’m so excited. And this means that I can start another project soon now that this one’s finished. Of course, that may have to wait a couple weeks till the end of the school quarter, since I have so much homework to do and finals coming up. But until then, I can at least sift through all the patterns I have and think about what I get to try next.

The squares were fun to make, and big-7″x7″. They went fast, too. But as this was my first attempt, it didn’t turn out very well. I was also imaptient, and didn’t want to be bothered to either take my time to avoid mistakes, or go back and fix them. I have since learned that it is much better to take your time in the first place, and fix mistakes as needed, or you will have wasted time, energy, and patience in something you don’t love in the end. Or like. Actually, it’s something you may be embarrassed of altogether. But as it is something I am able to learn from, I’m going to post it here for everyone to see:

The Square-

Flat View(shows all sorts of texture)-

The Finished Project-

Yes, it really is that funky and uneven on the outsides. And it really does have a couple pieces of yarn that despite being woven in, still stick out(some are too short to be woven in and stay, others are just…frustrating). There were major mistakes made in my rush to get this finished, causing me to “abandon ship” and try to salvage what I could. In the end, once I salvaged what I could, I went around the thing with black yarn again, with a double crochet stitch, to try and give it a little more of a finish. It helped, but didn’t cover all the mistakes.

And once I got it finished, I realized that just because a square is fun to make, doesn’t mean you’ll like it once it’s all sewn together.

On a side note, while making this blanket, it was dubbed “the potholder blanket”. I had friends over one evening for dinner and board games. At one point, I took the squares out in order to show them what I had been doing lately, since I was excited to make my first blanket. No sooner did I bring out the squares did one friend (the Bear) ask why in the heck I was making so manhy potholders?! He then proceeded to go on a 5-10 minute tangent about my potholders, and the potholder blanket I was making(all in good fun-he even had me laughing). It was then that I realized I was, indeed, making a blanket of potholders. Sigh.

I trudged on with my granny-square making, trying out a couple different patterns, making one here and there, and finally found a pattern for a super-basic one that I liked in the “Happy Hooker” crochet book. I can whip one out in 6-8 minutes, it’s fun and easy, and it’s kind of a no-brainer, so I can do it while watching t.v. or having a conversation. Even better, they’re really cute.

I have all this yarn that someone gave to me a couple months ago(about 2 garbage bags worth), that I haven’t quite known what to do with. some aren’t even full skeins, and they are the oddest assortment of colors. I’ve been using them to whip out some of these little squares, and just stashing them in a drawer.

I sewed some of the purples and whites together, and like the way they look together. I left it small, and for now it drapes over the back of my couch. It’s not large enough to cover up with…I just use it as a “foot blanket”. My feet sometimes get really cold when the rest of me isn’t, so it comes in handy.

I like the way the squares sew together, and the texture it has.

I’m not sure how exactly I’m going to stitch all these together. I like the pinks and purples and whites all together. Some big afghan or something. I’ll have to think about the design…whether I want to continue to do some planned design, or just scatter it randomly. And maybe a coule throw pillows to go with it.

Sorry if this is all boring and whatnot…I’m just fascinated with making these little things, and my drawer is filling quickly. I’ll post the end results on here when I finally do put all these little things together to make something.

Now I’ve got the fever again. I have patterns in a box that are unused…I buy them on sale when they’re 99 cents(normally up to $16), with the intention of making them some day. Of course I haven’t gotten around to making them yet. I did make my dogs fuzzy fleece pullovers, but they weren’t nearly as impressed as I was with them.

My next project I’ll be making for myself. It’s a Simplicity pattern, and I’m really excited to try it. I’m not a very good seamstress at all…but I know some basics, and the patterns come with instructions. Plus, I need some decent clothes and can’t afford to build a wardrobe just now. So, here’s what I’m starting with:

2 different style pants, a simple dress, a top, and a jacket. With different fabrics and colors, I can create a nice little work wardrobe for when I finally get back into the workforce. Yay for me!

I really like the green and brown colors in the pictures, but I also like pink and brown for a combo as well. And since I have over 50 pair of shoes in my closet, and at least 10 purses, I don’t really have to worry about accessories.

Wish me luck. When and if I ever get the chance to start these projects, I will post pictures of the process and the finished results.

The scarves each took about 5-6 hours to make. That seems like a long time, but it was something I worked on while doing other things like watching t.v., talking with the other moms while our kids were in dance, or chatting on the phone.

The hats took about 3 hours each, and because it requires changes in stitches with each row, and a lot of counting, I didn’t do anything else while I was making them. I didn’t do it all in one shot(who has 3 hours to sit and crochet?), so the 3 hours were spread out over several days.

The gray and green scarf and hat set will be sent to a friend in the Netherlands. Eventually I will get around to knitting him a set as well, but that takes so much longer and a lot more concentration/skill.

The blue set was going to be for him as well, but it turned out a little small. It will be put away in the closet and taken out next winter for my son. He loves the blue camaflouge-style pattern the yarn makes.

I haven’t been able to do any knitting or crocheting for more than a week as I’m trying to focus on all these school projects I have coming due, the kids upcoming dance recital and all that surrounds it, and keeping the house in order. I do have one of my next projects picked out though: a beanbag crochet multi-colored turtle. It’s really cute and measures 7 inches long. From the pattern it looks like it will require some focus, and not the mindless crocheting of a scarf. The first one will be for a friend in NY. I always get him some kind of turtle whatever for birthdays, Christmas, and just because. He has a birthday coming up in July, and this will be perfect.

Here is arecent project that I have finished:

My Little Red Knitted Bag-